Bullied By My Alpha Stepbrother novel Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Jasmine's POV

"And then, for tomorrow's assignment..." Miss Smith our homeroom teacher spoke but I had already zoned out by the time she started listing it out.

I knew that Lorenzo, being the perfect boy that he was, would probably get it.

It had been a week since Hardin had rudely chased him away from our house when he had come to take me to a nearby restaurant for us to do our group assignment.

And by rudely, I meant it because I was sure that was what had happened even though Lorenzo assured me that Hardin had only claimed I was busy.

Speaking of Hardin, I hadn't seen him at school all week since that day when I had forced that lie out of my mouth.

I didn't realize that he had actually bought that lie that I had concocted to hurt his feelings and that it had worked.

"The way you fuck is not even something that should turn anyone on."

It was easy to add that to the rest of my rants at him because the rest was true.

But this part had been a lie.

A big lie and I didn't realize that he had even bought it until he didn't come home.

I wanted to say that I felt glee after that night but I would be lying about it because I knew that it had been said out of spite to directly affect his ego. And it had hit home so hard, it was like Hardin didn't exist.

I knew that I should be happy. I had gotten what I wanted, had I not?

For Hardin to leave me alone and to allow me to continue with my life in peace.

So why was I feeling like this?

Why did I look for him at the dinner table?

Why did I pass by his room and feel this urge to check if he was around?

Why did I wonder how he was doing now that he was almost never around me?

Why did I feel empty?

The bell rang for the end of class and it was time for lunch.

As I walked out of the class with Nadia, I looked at where his locker was, the spot where he and his clique usually stood and saw everyone else but him.

He had not been home in a week and I was scared to seek him out at the cottage especially after the way I had walked out that day and called Lorenzo to pick me up.

"What are you looking at?" Nadia asked as she slammed the locker and I flinched from the sound, my eyes darting away from where Alex and Sandro and the rest of the clique stood to look at my best friend.

"Nothing?" I lied and she nodded, taking my hand as we walked into the cafeteria and my eyes widened as I saw Lorenzo sitting at our table.

"Oh my God, he's sitting at our table." Nadia squealed and I swallowed.

"I can see that." I said, my eyebrows raised in question as we approached.

"Hi girls, I hope you don't mind that I'm now sitting here today. Mason kind of bailed on me and the rest is history."

Mason was one of the guys on the lacrosse team who was now Lorenzo's friend and they used to sit on the table beside ours during lunch.

"Oh, not at all" Nadia said with a wink directed at me and I fought the urge to pinch her and bury my face under the table at how obvious her actions were.

Plus there was the fact that people were staring at our table now that Lorenzo was sitting on it and whispering amongst themselves.

I didn't realize that I had zoned off while Lorenzo and Nadia were talking about the latest assignment that Miss Smith had given us until the door to the cafeteria opened and Hardin walked in.

Like every place was whenever he walked into a room, the entire cafeteria seemed to gravitate towards him, his presence taking up almost all of the attention and even though he looked like he had not slept in days, he was absolutely and painfully gorgeous.

Heading to his table with the populars, he sat down with them and when he whispered in Alex's ears, I regretted the fact that I did not have enhanced hearing or I would have focused on their table to hear what he was asking for.

I stared at him for so long, hoping that he would look at me and when he did, I lost my breath, his eyes looking at me with a lack of emotion or expression that made me upset for some reason.

Because Hardin never looked at me like that.

There was always rage in his eyes or lust or downright irritation. But now as he stared at him, there was absolutely nothing. It could as well have been that he was looking at an empty wall

As quickly as our eyes collided, he looked away and after a couple of minutes, he rose to his feet and walked out of the cafeteria.

"Wait where are you going?" Nadia asked and I didn't realize that I was already on my feet until she spoke.

"I need something from my locker." I lied and ran out of the cafeteria, hoping that I would catch up to him but by the time I entered the hallway, he was nowhere to be found.

It was as if I had imagined him even appearing in school at all.

After searching everywhere for him to no avail, I gave up and headed back into the cafeteria.

Lorenzo gave me a look that I could not quite understand and looked at my empty hands.

"You didn't bring back anything with you." He noted and I smiled nervously, hiding my hands behind my back as I had my seat.

"Oh, I just remembered that it's at home. Silly me."

Thankfully before Lorenzo could ask another question, Nadia who was blissfully oblivious to my lie spoke.

"So I heard that the game is this weekend. How have practices been?"

"They've been alright so far. I'm really looking forward to my first game."

"And Hardin?" I interjected.

"Is Hardin being a good captain I mean? He does come for practice, doesn't he?" I added and when Lorenzo nodded, I heaved a sigh of relief.

So he did come for practice after school but didn't come to school. Or home.

"When is your next practice?"

"Tomorrow." He answered and I nodded thoughtfully, stuffing a forkful of food in my mouth as I made a mental note to make sure I watched their practice tomorrow.

The last thing I expected when I arrived at home later in the evening was for Lisa to say that she wanted to see me during dinner.

My parents were going on a date tonight and since Hardin was not at home as usual, the servants had whipped up a light meal for the two of us.

As I sat across from her, I felt nervous under her watchful gaze, trying my best to remind myself that this was not Hardin's mother despite the uncanny resemblance that she had.

I wondered why she even wanted to see me.

She had eased out on the passive aggressive bullying of my mother in the past week but I didn't believe that she was truly done with her antics. Instead I wondered what bomb she was about to drop next.

"So, how has school been?" She asked and I fought the urge to tell her to fuck off.

"Fine. School has been fine."

"And Hardin? How's your relationship with him?" She asked, her eyes stuck on me and I swallowed the food in my mouth before I shrugged.

"He's busy. I'm busy. So I can't really say we have time to see each other as often since he's not in the house."

"Hmmm..."

The silence after that was so awkward and tense, I could not wait for dinner to be over so that I could run away from her.

And just as I assisted one of the maids to clear the table, she rose to her feet and gave me what I was sure she believed was a kind smile.

"I'd like to be more invested in your life, dear. After all, we are family."

Her words stayed with me the entire night and even into the next day because they sounded like a threat more than a kind gesture.

Time, however did its thing and by the end of school, I had forgotten about Lisa and her schemes as I waved at Nadia who was going home and went back into the school, heading straight for the field where lacrosse practice had already started.

Once again, I watched Hardin and wondered if there was any part of him that was hurt. As I sat watching him during the practice, he was rammed into, making him to fall on the ground. It was obvious that he was going through some stress, which made the coach ask him to go home and rest.

As Hardin walked away from the field back into the school building, heading for the changing room, I ran after him.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Lorenzo called, grabbing my hands to hold me back and when I turned around, he was panting from running over to stop me.

I didn't realize that he had even seen me on the bench, watching them practice.

Gently pulling away from him, I nodded, using a line that I never thought I would ever use before. A line that I absolutely didn't believe.

"He's my step brother, Lorenzo. Don't worry about it."

I knew why Lorenzo was concerned. Even though he had not asked me why I had called him to come and get me in the middle of nowhere in the woods, I knew that he suspected it had something to do with Hardin and was trying to look out for me.

But today, I was not going to shy away from approaching him. No matter what the consequences might be.